Popular Lunch

Well, as planned I was able to have our new lunch menu ready for the New Year so we are officially on week two of the menu.  Most of the new recipes had been tested in the months beforehand so I knew the majority of the children would accept them.

Some of the trial recipes, such as the Salmon Strata, were eliminated from the list after completely failing the initial taste test.  I know when introducing new foods to children you shouldn’t assume they won’t ever eat them just because they refused them the first time – sometimes it takes a few (up to ten) tries before you know for sure.  However, when everyone in the group – including me -dislikes a new recipe it is simply not worth the effort to convert them.

A couple of the new recipes were not tested before adding to the new menu simply because I ran out of time and I was fairly certain they would be accepted by most of the children.  Wednesday’s lunch was one of the untested recipes but even I was surprised by the enthusiastic response it received from the children.  Every one of them had two helpings and several of them could not stop praising the dish.

Now before I post my ‘Turkey Tetrazzini’ recipe I should point out that I kept the original name of the recipe but because I always modify recipes I thought I should check and see what exactly real ‘Tetrazzini’ needed.
According to Wikipedia

Tetrazzini is an American dish usually involving a non-red meat (often diced fowl or seafood), mushrooms, and almonds in a butter/cream and parmesan sauce flavoured with wine or sherry and stock vegetables such as onions, celery, and carrots. It is often served hot over spaghetti or some similarly thin pasta, garnished with lemon or parsley, and topped with additional almonds and/or Parmesan cheese.

Ok, so since I eliminated several of those listed Tetrazzini ingredients maybe I should have changed the name but I didn’t so if that’s going to bother you maybe you should stop reading now.  I apologize to any Tetrazzini lovers if they feel I am misusing the name.

Here’s the recipe for My Turkey Tetrazzini;

• 6Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp vegetable seasoning (mix of dried peppers, onions etc)
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 4 cups chicken stock/broth
• 2 cups milk
• 4 cups cooked turkey, cubed
• 400 g pkg of rice vermicelli
• Boiling water
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Mix flour and seasoning with broth and milk in saucepan.  Heat and stir until it boils and thickens. Add chicken. In large pot cook vermicelli in boiling water until it softens. Drain. Combine vermicelli with chicken mixture and pour into a casserole dish.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Cover and bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 20 minutes, uncover for the last 5 minutes or longer depending on how brown you want it.

That’s all, and the children loved it.  I served it with a spinach and tomato salad.  Mmmm.